Any Sydney mums around?

[thatsnotmymonster]

I am getting pretty excited as it is looking increasingly likely that dh is about to be offered a job in Sydney (should know by next week). However, whether we are able to accept or not all depends on the salary package, particularly with th school fee issue- has anyone else moved and had the company pay the school fees?

We live in Scotland and so ds is in P1 but he will be 6 in March and dd1 is due to start school after the summer as she will be 5 in July. I don't know whether they should go into Yr 1 and 2 in Oz from when we move or whether they shoud go into Yr 1 and kindergarten. Do most people wait until the year the dc turns 6 or send them the year they turn 5?

The office is in Pyrmont and we are hoping to rent in a nearby suburb- I have been looking at Lilyfield, Five Dock, Drummoyne...can anyone recommend any other nice suburbs in that area or tell me if there are any to avoid?

Anything else I should know? If this happens we will be moving around April.

Thanks!

[Eralc]

I have popped (finally!) - had a little (or maybe not so little!) boy on the 16th Feb. He weghed just over 4 kilos. It all went fine - much faster than the last one - he popped out in just over 4 hours (and I was very glad that I didn't end up giving birth on Pacific Highway, although it would have been a good story!) He's doing well, although a little bit more sleep would be nice!

[Bubbaluv]

Congratulations EralC - what a whopper!! How are you feeling?

I'm loving this Autumn weather in Sydney. I've been swimming in the mornings (in the sea) and lighting the fire in the evenings - perfect!!

On the Easter Show topic, have you tried the mini-Easter Show at Fox Studios?
Much better for little ones (and big ones IMHO). Very family friendly and small so easy to navigate without exhausting yourselves.

[thumbwitch]

Congratulations Eralc! How lovely! 4+ kg, hey - a big bouncy boy!
Ooo, am starting to think we should aim for another Sydney meet-up soon - especially since Abithormonal has just been to see me today and brought her gorgeous boy along - can't believe he's a year old already!
It would be quite nice to have a meet-the-sprog meet up as well, I think - I still haven't met bunnygirl's little fella either - anyone fancy it?

Bubbaluv - haven't heard about the mini Easter Show at Fox Studios - will have a look at that, but tbh DS's main attraction at the Easter Show is the cows!

SunnyD - will definitely take you up on that soon :)

[bunnygirl80]

Can we have a meet the sprog meet up and a without sprog meet up?
I've missed out on the at previous meet ups, what with having been pg at them all

Or you could come and see me and DS for a day thumb?

I'll be in the UK for the whole of May, so June would be good for me, unless we're organised enough to arrange something in the next couple of weeks

eralc congrats. And 4kg....ouch My DS was only 3kg and that stung a bit!!

[thumbwitch]

I think both would be a good idea, bunny! Can't have you missing the every time

Would love to come and see you too - I am also hoping to go back to the UK sometime in May, just trying to twist DH's arm into coming too - so we'll see if we can sort something out.

[Eralc]

Thanks everyone! Am feeling not too bad - just a bit tired as he likes feeding every 2 hours, day and night! Fortunately he goes straight back to sleep after a feed, and is pretty speedy, so I'm surviving! He is a huge baby - weighs 6kg now, and is on the top centile for length - not a dainty child at all

A sprog meet and a non-sprog meet sound great - and hopefully by June I will be able to leave the smaller son for more than 2 hours without him going ballistic (he will take a bottle as well, so I can always express for him :) )

I'm very jealous of all of you going back on visits to the UK. We've decided not to go back for a visit before we return next year - mostly because OH doesn't have enough leave to do that and have any left over for trips away here (and I'm not brave enough to take two small boys on my own!) My parents are here for 2 weeks in May, so that should be fun!

[bunnygirl80]

eralc feeding every 2 hours is harsh, hope you manage to persuade him to space them out a bit more soon. My DS has managed to grow from the 25th to the 90th percentile and is now weighing in at a whopping 8.5kg....only 1kg lighter than my friend's 15month old DD

[Bubbaluv]

www.sydneyfamilyshow.com.au/

No cows, but camels and pigs?

[Eralc]

Wow - that's good growing Bunny!

That looks fun Bubbaluv - might see if I'm brave enough to try taking the boys on my own (probably not - I don't really drive, and trying to go on the bus with the pair of them gets a bit stressful!)

We are thinking of going to the Easter Show tomorrow - the forecast is for rain, so my theory is that it will be quieter than it might have been, because people will decide that there are lots more days of it left, and that they won't bother going on a wet day (we don't mind the rain as it means it shouldn't be too hot for the baby and me, and 3 year old DS will get to wear his wellies, which will make his day!) Am not sure my theory will hold, but it's worth a go!

Am wondering how to distract DS from the showbags (funny thinking that this time last year I didn't have a clue what a showbag was!)......

[Bubbaluv]

I'm betting there will be a higher than normal British contingent at the Show tomorrow.
At 3 he wont know about the showbags unless you take him to the Showbag pavilion.

[thumbwitch]

Eralc - I was going to say the same - we took DS to the Newcastle Show and he didn't really know what the showbags were about at all, so even going past them had no real impact on him. Unless they know what's in them, they're not that exciting! And they won't know that unless you buy them one. I don't plan on buying DS one this year either.

Bubbaluv - camels - ha. Had them at Morisset Show (I rode one!). Pigs - pfft. It's cows that are the pull - and horses too. He's also very keen on goats. Looks good though! Might persuade DH to give it a go as well. :)

[Eralc]

Just for the record, Easter Show when there are "showers" forecast (note to self: showers = heavy rain!) is NOT a good plan! 5 hours since leaving, and I can now just about feel my toes again! We were soaked. DS had a brilliant time though (and it was much less crowded than last year when we went in the blazing sunshine!)

[thumbbunny]

I did think of you this morning when I woke to pouring rain that had been going all night, apparently, and wondered whether you'd get half-drowned! Glad DS had a good time, even if your toes are suffering for it

[Ains1209]

Hi

We are moving to Sydney from Scotland in July - should we fly economy with two children (3 & 8) or totally stretch ourselves and go business?

Also, does any one know that if I send my daughter to a state school in sydney do I have to pay fees, i'm sure I read this somewhere.

So many questions I need to ask.............thanks so much for now!

[thumbbunny]

Ains - are you coming here on a working visa or are you immigrating here? It makes a difference - if you're only on a working visa then you will need to pay fees for even the state schools, yes.

Re. business class - it's up to you - I haven't ever bothered to fly anything other than Economy, but once I was upgraded to World Traveller Plus (overbooked plane) and it was worse than standard World Traveller because the arms on the seats don't go up. With a 2.9yo, that was a bit of a tragedy because he couldn't lie across my lap to go to sleep, he had to curl up on just his own seat, bless him.
Can you afford to fly business every time? if not, I'd probably stick to economy, might as well let them get used to it!

[sunnydelight]

Unless you can do it without thinking Ains (in which case I am envious and would say go for it and enjoy) I would save the money, fly economy and spend it on nicer accommodation, etc. when you arrive. Bottom line is it is 24 hours out of your life and sometimes you get lucky anyway. When we emigrated the plane wasn't full and all five of us had two seats each.

If you are here on a 457 (business) visa you will have to pay $4,700 for each child in a state school. This money doesn't actually go to the school so you will be expected to pay the normal parental contribution to the school on top (though I know people who refuse - be prepared for your child to be excluded from activities etc. if you do though). If you are here short term it can make more sense to go Catholic or private, if the plan is to get PR eventually you may not want to commit to fees as once you get it you will not longer have to pay.

I was thinking of you poor wet souls at the Easter show yesterday - that was bad luck!

[Ains1209]

Hi

My husband is going over on a working visa probably for 2 - 4years, so I am assuming I will have to pay for my daughter (8 yrs)to attend state school, I have budgeted for my little boy (3yrs) to attend nursery but stupidly not for state school!

To fly business class would really strech us, so economy it will be - Emirates flying from Glasgow only do business or economy - so as you say its only 24 hours (probably the longest ever) in your life.

The rental market looks fierce - what is an average rent for a 3 bed house - have been looking in Balmain, Annandale areas, as there is a Montessori nursery there and that is what my little boy is currently at - also the state school ther looks good. Any other good family areas you can suggest?

Really excited about it all but worried that we can't manage on my husbands salary, as it all seems so expensive, also so, so worried that my daughter doesn't settle...........oh its hard!

Thanks so much for answering my questions.

[bunnygirl80]

Hi Ains - we were in Balmain and then moved down the road to Lilyfield where the rent is slightly cheaper. For a 3 bed house in Balmain we were looking in the region of $800-900per week. They also often come with very little outside space - you're likely to have a courtyard type thing that's big enough for bbqs etc but not necessarily ideal for children to run around in. That said, there are heaps of parks in the area so there are plenty of places they could go to play. You would get more for your money in Annandale I think.

Have you contacted the nursery you want your DS to go to? When I was looking for daycare places the wait for most nurseries in Balmain was over 2 years and 3 for some of the more popular pre-schools. Similarly I have heard rumours of oversubscribed state primary schools refusing to take children on 457 visas, so you might need to ask your preferred school if DD would get a place

[thumbbunny]

I know everyone wants to live in Sydney, but if you are stretched for money then you might need to look outside Sydney and let your DH commute in. I don't know about anything south of Sydney, I wouldn't go west, but north is reasonable. Not as far north as I am, that would be too far (DH has to go into Sydney once a fortnight and that's ok but he wouldn't want to do it every day, it takes 1.5h from here).

If you move further out, the rents will be substantially lower for the size of house you need and you'll have more chance with the schools. Train fares aren't extreme here, like they would be in London, for e.g. (I don't know how much it would cost to commute around Scotland) - an example, it only costs me $13 to go from my town to Sydney (return), and that's a 2h train trip. When I drove into Roseville, a northern suburb of Sydney, it only cost me $5.30 to get into Central (return) on the train.

There are plenty of coastal areas to live north of Sydney if the beaches are an important factor to you. You could look at Google Earth or something to see what areas are near the coast, and/or near the freeway (F3) or a train line.

Just another idea for you!

Another point to think about is that once you've been here for a while, the idea of travelling for over half an hour to get somewhere becomes commonplace (outside of Sydney) - because you pretty much have to! So I don't think anything now of driving 40minutes to go to a shopping centre, or to visit people for a morning - it's just the way of this place.

[sunnydelight]

There is a montessori nursery two doors up from me (and a montessori primary that goes up to Y6 down the road) but we are in Turramurra which is probably more suburban than you want. I would live in Balmain for choice but with three kids aged 8-17 we discovered that space is the secret to harmonious family life a long time ago! You could walk to the train station from here in 20 mins but DH gets the bus which stops outside the door and it takes under 5, then train in. It takes him 45/50 minutes door to door which is a hell of a lot better than the 2 hours each way Brighton to London commute he did for 12 years! There is also a city bus which will do it in about 45 minutes direct if you go early.

A friend is renting up the road. The house is a bit old fashioned (most rentals that aren't megabucks are) and the kitchen is tiny, but she has three beds, plenty of living space a decent garden and pool for $650 a week. That is particularly good though, we rented in St. Ives just down the road and paid $920 for 4 beds and a pool.

I really would urge caution with your rent. DH has been involved in a nightmare situation recently where their company brought a guy over from the UK on a 457. He was on a really good salary but was dissatisfied from day one saying he coudln't afford to live on it (I don't think they had done much research and got a real shock on arrival at the cost of everything). He had tied himself into a rental agreement at $1100 a week which anyone could have told him just wasn't financially feasible. He has actually resigned now but had totally overlooked the fact that contractually he has to repay all his relocation costs - the exit negotiations have not been pleasant. Your DH also needs to negotiate LAFHA which will make a huge difference to your income. LAFHA is individually negotiated so it needs to form part of his contract.

[thatsnotmymonster]

wow I've missed a lot! will catch up tonight!!

[Bubbaluv]

Ains- where will your husband be working?

Thumbbunny - by out of Sydney are you talking Wollongong/Blue Mountains kind of areas? That raelly is quite a commute if you don't absolutely have to I would have thought?

Balmain is lovely but very limited space for your money and one of the hardest areas in Sydney to find daycare.
Maybe try upper North Shore - follow the trainline - give you big homes and gardens comparatively, plus an easy commute to the city and great school options. Beecroft is also an option that lots of people overlook. It's suburban, but it has a really nice feel, good shops and awesome schools.

[Bubbaluv]

Thumb, just wanted to clarify - not being rude about living out of Sydney. Actually rather jealous! Would love a few acres up on the central coast, but DH works long hours in the city so not an option for us.

[Bubbaluv]

Example house in Beecroft. Quite street within easy walk of one of the best primary schools in the country (according to the recent rankings).
www.domain.com.au/Property/For-Rent/House/NSW/Beecroft/?adid=6667530

[thumbbunny]

No Bubbaluv, not in that direction - I was talking about Hornsby upwards to about Gosford - any further than that is too far, I think.